Heika: Stars had something in common with Kevin Costner movie in OT loss Wednesday to Sharks

2/12

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

San Jose Sharks' Justin Braun (61) collides with Dallas Stars' Rich Peverley (17) during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Like golfer David Simms in the movie Tin Cup, the Stars laid up Wednesday.

If you follow the plot of Tin Cup, that’s supposed to be a bad thing. The message is to “go for it,” right? So who wants to be David Simms?

Well, honestly, the Stars do. The fictional David Simms is a respected PGA pro with a lot of second-place finishes and a big pile of money from career earnings. He’s the “smart” golfer, so to speak. And there are times in a tournament when you can’t clear the water hazard, so the smart play is to lay up, chip on the green and take par.

The Stars did just that in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Sharks.

Playing the second game of a back-to-back against an angry San Jose team mired in a 1-4-0 slump, the Stars would have probably gotten into a lot of trouble if they went for it and tried to play their usual revved-up game. The Sharks lead the NHL in shots on goal and shot differential, and they love to dominate teams who run and gun. So the Stars survived an early onslaught in the opening 10 minutes and then fell into the perfect road game.

Dump and chase.

Play it safe.

No mistakes.

At the end of the night, the shots were 21-20 in favor of San Jose. It was the hockey version of laying up.

Yes, Dallas lost in overtime again. Yes, the Stars grabbed only one point in the standings when two were available. But the key is they didn’t get the ball wet, they didn’t take a snowman, they didn’t blow it.

They walked out of the SAP Center in perfect position to go for it Saturday night at home against Phoenix. They are one point out of the final wild-card playoff spot in the West and tied with the Coyotes at 62 points.

Smart.

And to take this golfing analogy a little bit further, the real story might be the fact that the Stars even had that club in their bag Wednesday. They didn’t earlier in the season. They couldn’t lay up, they didn’t know how. In pushing Lindy Ruff’s attack mode speed game, the Stars couldn’t grip the stick of control, they couldn’t take a little something off of their swing.

But now they can. In the last 10 games, Dallas has allowed just 22.9 shots on goal. That’s impressive for a team that has given up 30+ for the last four seasons. That figure is New Jersey Devils territory and would lead the NHL over a full season.

So what’s the difference?

“I think we’ve got more patience,” Ruff said. “I think there were times we went at it too hard instead of taking the chances when they come. We got careless, and games slipped away on us, so I thought the patience we showed [against the Sharks] was important.”

Center Vern Fiddler said he believes it’s a team mind-set that was driven home during a 1-8-1 slump.

“We know we have to do that if we want to win,” Fiddler said. “We’re getting pucks out and getting pucks deep, and we’re not getting ourselves into the trouble we used to. When we were on our slide, it was almost like a bunch of individuals trying to get each other out of it. But when we play a team game, we don’t give up too much. Those are lessons you have to learn, maybe take a step back to take a step forward.”

And that might be the real message of Tin Cup, anyway. Roy McAvoy did remind himself after his “go for it” 12 that he just gave away the U.S. Open. If you imagine his future tournaments, you probably believe there will be some when he does learn his lesson and “lay up.”

At the very least, it’s nice to know that the option is there, because that’s something the Stars couldn’t even fathom 30 games ago.

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